Aibu to think that RNLI shouldn't launch.....

[AJPTaylor]

I live in East Sussex. Yesterday our local lifeboat launched in the middle of the worst storm in years for a feckin idiot surfer who chose to throw himself into the sea in search of a thrill.
You have probably seen the footage of the lifeboat being thrown on it's side at launch.
Or should there be a feckin idiot surcharge?

@GiveHerHellFromUs a country lane on a winter's night is not comparable to the unpredictability of the sea, especially in weather like yesterday. Not comparable.

That idiot surfer knew that he shouldn't have been going out there but did it anyway. Those volunteers could easily have died because of him. Should that count as manslaughter if they had have?? All of those saying of course they should have rescued him would you have in their shoes? If you have families and realise that you could die in doing so? Would you really take that risk? That's what you're expecting them to do, don't forget that.

All services deal with idiots. Should hospitals refuse to see drunks and smokers? Should the police refuse to attend drunken fights? Fire fighters not attend house fires where someone has irresponsibly left a candle alight?
Idiots come with the territory.

How would you feel if your (idiot) relative died because a bystander didn't call the emergency services to rescue him in case it landed him with a fine? how would you feel if your child, parent, sibling, husband, died because they were called out to rescue some idiot on a thrill in weather which even the most idiotic amongst us knew was bad?

Name and shame the tosser in the media, fine him substantially, I mean thousands, and order him to do community service.

And in the long term perhaps the law needs changing to make it illegal to enter the water in certain conditions or to go mountaineering in certain conditions. You will still get idiots who will need rescuing, but perhaps they will think twice if it’s illegal to do so.

No way would an idiot surcharge put off idiots. Nothing sensible does, that's why some knobber went surfing in the storm yesterday.

The footage of the lifeboat is horrific and churned my stomach. How on earth it righted itself is a testament to amazing design and (i imagine) the skill of those in it.

It did make me wonder when, if ever, a crew would make the decision that it was simply too dangerous to go out on a shout. I understand that their role is dangerous by it's very nature - but these are men and women trained and skilled in assessing and managing risk in rapidly changing circumstances while on a shout - I would have thought that a risk assessment od that sea before they even launched would have deemed it too dangerous to even launch into. But I do appreciate they are the experts not me.

I already held these people in very high regard but after watching that my respect for them is off the scales.

a country lane on a winter's night is not comparable to the unpredictability of the sea, especially in weather like yesterday. Not comparable.

Both are cases where people are putting their lives at risk to save idiots. Where do you draw the line with regards to safety?

The bigger question is why the government don't fund the RNLI?

I am from S Wales and every year people have to be rescued because they haven’t checked the tides. Easy mistake?

Except that the Severn Estuary has one of the biggest tidal ranges on the planet (Top 5) and certainly the largest near a heavily populated area. High tide is 12m at Barry Island today that would cover a 4 storey building.

The drink driver is different from the surfer though because drink driving is illegal. So if he wraps himself around a tree and has to be rescued he will still be charged with drink driving and face the consequences.

If someone else is killed because of his actions he will be charged with causing death by dangerous driving as well as drink driving and could face a prison sentence.

The surfer probably thinks he’s a big man now and will be telling his story down the pub by next week.... no consequences what so ever for his actions.

Another East Sussex resident here OP. I get so hacked off watching the RNLI risk their lives for these morons. Usually it's people in the summer who go half a mile out to sea on a lilo, despite being advised repeatedly not to, and then realise they can't get back, and then the RNLI has to dispatch a crew to bring them back again (London daytrippers to Brighton I'm looking at you). Some people just have no idea of the dangers of the sea. Or the risks the RNLI take to rescue them.

They know the limitations of their boats.

What I do think is that they should be a fully paid emergency service.

@AlternativePerspective I see your point and agree that he should be charged with something related to endangering another persons life.

But the suggestion from posters here is basically that the surfer should be left to die because he's been a knob.

Agree with everything Fridgeoffal said.
Unfortunately I agree fining them wouldn't put people off - nobody goes out planning to be rescued by RNLI, they just think it will be exciting but fine, because they are idiots.

" The bigger question is why the government don't fund the RNLI?"

AveEldon because then it would be treated like any other government run service.

Those lifeboat stations that only saved one life last year would be at risk of cutbacks.

'Efficiencies' would be demanded in times of austerity.

Bean counters in Whitehall would question the merit of building a expensive world class lifeboat like the one in yesterday's film, rather than a cheaper boat that may not have same capabilities and equipment that will preserve the lives of the crew.

@AveEldon this was discussed on a local Facebook group yesterday - I’m in Sussex too. One of the crew commented and said they didn’t want government funding because if they did, they’d also have to comply with government ruling what they do and how. Which is not something they’d invite to their service.

The bigger question is why the government don't fund the RNLI?

^^^ This. Why are they volunteers?

I'm pretty sure the modern lifeboats are self-righting, so that they can't actually be capsized. This is missing from all of the reporting I've seen, and I'm sure a live capsizing is rough on the crew, but that they are not in danger in the way that people think. Sure, the surfer was a complete tool, but the lifeboats are awesome. We've come a long way since the days of Penlee.

Front page of local papers/ local SM & used as an example to all the school kids in the local area etc.

Humiliate the absolute fuck out of the bellend.

I’d be fine with not rescuing shit for brains like that idiot. Trouble is it then puts the responsibility on the RNLI to decide who to rescue & who to not and that would cause massive issues. It’s not practical - unfortunately.

Well hes a prize dickhead isnt he! The RNLI have had a TV show and some of the people they have rescued have also been idiots (one showed a young couple in a cave filling with water and were cut off ).I have a huge respect for volunteers who put themselves on the line ,but they arent the only ones .Cave rescuers ,Mountain rescue and so on .Many people set out on Ben Nevis totally unprepared in trainers .not enough water etc and have to be rescued .At the end of the day they are Volunteers and have chosen to do this (Thank God)!

Not all of them are volunteers though.
Just the ones actually risking their lives.
You can bet the 35 staff who earn over £60k per year rarely participate in rescues.
Why are marketing and accounting professionals worth so much more?

I used to WW kayak, the stuff we'd throw ourselves down was ridiculous, things go wrong and people do die but i think the moment you start fining people or not even attempting a rescue, you are on the way to a totalitarian state.
Look at all the hillwalkers that get lost/injured each year or parents that don't keep an eye on their kids at the beach and then are swept out to sea on a rip tide? should we leave them? fine them?

If the RNLI crew didn't think they could get out to him safely, they wouldn't have attempted it.

I do appreciate that really the RNLI can't and don't want to pick and choose who they help. I suppose it is more a question of "How stupid can you be to chuck yourself in the sea in the middle of a storm. Look at all the trouble you have caused"

Does anybody know if the RNLI do ever sometimes say "actually, we can't even attempt this rescue. It's too dangerous." ...?

The surfer is more of an idiot because being a sea faring man, he will know the consequences of his actions if they go wrong. He should be made to join his local lifeboat team

For anyone who says the risks are tiny google the union star.

Fourteen lives lost, including the eight lifeboat crew in conditions not dissimilar to yesterday. Except this was a legitimate rescue of a boat in distress, not some moron who thought he was a big man going out on a surf board in 90 mph winds.